Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Arguing with Jesus About Nonviolence

Jesus, Nonviolence, and Self-DefenseLuke 6:27-36

Introduction

I have always been fascinated with
martial arts.When I was only 6 years
old, I begged my mom to let me sign up for a judo class that advertised to kids
at my school.My mom—who is very
submissive and nonviolent—would not let me join the class.She didn’t like any kind of fighting and she
didn’t want her son participating in something she considered too violent.However, the allure of martial arts never
faded for me and I watched martial arts movies and tried to teach myself the
moves from books I checked out of the library.When I was 10, my mom finally relented and allowed me to join a martial
arts class with some friends.My friends
dropped out after only a few months, but I was hooked and became a lifelong
martial artist.

It's 30 years later and my love and
appreciation of martial arts and self-defense have never faded—even after I
became a pastor.In fact, based on some
things I learned in seminary about the positive effects of martial arts, I even
developed a Christian Martial Arts program that combined elements of martial
arts with prayer, community service, and scripture memorization.I taught my own martial arts classes for 7
years.Even though I am a 2nd
degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, I am currently learning a new martial art
called Jiu-jitsu and I love it!

People are sometimes puzzled by a
pastor who has so much interested in punching, kicking, and choking
people.I mean, isn’t Christianity a
nonviolent religion?I got a few
questions about it from the Board of Ordained Ministry when they interviewed me
to see if I was fit to be a United Methodist minister.“Do you like fighting?” they asked.“Absolutely not!” I replied, “but I love
sparring.”Sparring is practice
fighting.Although I detest fighting, I
really like to spar in a friendly setting.The same is true of verbal confrontations for me.I love to debate, but I can’t stand to
argue.I can spar with someone (or
debate someone) and then give them a genuine hug full of love and mutual
respect afterwards.I may even love and
respect them more because of it. I do not like to fight.However, if I am forced to fight—either physically or verbally—I am quite confident in my ability.

How do I justify my love of martial
arts and resolve to defend myself given Jesus teachings and life of
nonviolence?I often find myself thrust
into an awkward position—arguing with Jesus about the subject of
self-defense.Actually, I am not really
arguing with Jesus; I am arguing with the way people misunderstand or misuse
what Jesus said.Let’s look at one of
the passages where Jesus urges a nonviolent response.

Luke 6:27-36

27 “But to you who are willing to
listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who
curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the
other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who
asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them
back. 31 Do to
others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love
you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love
them! 33 And if
you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even
sinners do that much! 34 And
if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit?
Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to
them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven
will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High,
for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be
compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

General Interpretations

Christ’s
teaching and exemplary example of nonviolence are extraordinary.Jesus wisely understood that given the
socio-political-religious conditions of his time, the best way to change his
world forever was through a nonviolent, peaceful revolution.This was God’s plan of salvation and Jesus
willingly drank from the cup God handed him.By not resisting the Roman authorities and willingly dying on the cross,
Jesus affected salvation for all humanity for all time.Jesus astonishing sacrifice sparked a social
and moral revolution that changed the world forever.

Following
Christ’s nonviolent example, other notable leaders have made significant
changes to better our world.Mahatma
Gandhi led India to win independence from the British Empire through nonviolent
resistance.Martin Luther King, Jr.
helped transform civil rights in the United States through nonviolent
protest.So, we can certainly see that
Jesus’ revolutionary teachings to “turn the other cheek” and to “love your
enemies” are powerful weapons indeed.

Many
Christian pacifists[i]interpret
Jesus’ teaching to mean it is always wrong to injure other humans, no matter
the circumstance.They would argue that
even self-defense is wrong.If Jesus was
willing to lay down his life—even for his enemies—we should do likewise.

On the surface, complete Christian Pacifism may seem reasonable and many who take a simplistic view if Christ’s example
accept this conclusion without much thought.However, this simplistic view is not the whole of Jesus teachings or
actions.To make my point, I would draw
your attention to other examples of Jesus teachings and actions.

First of all, there is the story of
Jesus and the money changers.The story
is found in all four of the Gospels—Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and
John 2.In the story, Jesus enters
the holy Temple in Jerusalem and violently flips over the money changers tables
and drives them out of the Temple with a whip because they were cheating people
and dishonoring God’s house.This is not
exactly the gentle, peaceful Jesus of our nonviolent dreams.

Second, when Jesus enraged the people of
Nazareth with his preaching at their synagogue in Luke 4, a mob tried to push
him off a cliff.However, Jesus did not
allow them to hurt him.Luke 4:30 says,
Jesus “...passed right through the crowd and went on his way.”

Third,
when Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin (John 18:22-23), one of the high
priest’s guards slapped Jesus across the face.Interestingly, Jesus does not “turn the other cheek” and passively invite
the guard slap him again.Jesus doesn’t
strike back with fists, but rather he fights back with words.Jesus defends himself saying, “If I said
anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you
beating me?”[ii]

Let me give you one more example.Luke
22:31-38 tells the story of how Jesus predicted Peter would deny him.You remember this story.Peter is adamantly professing his eternal
loyalty to Jesus even in the face of death and Jesus says, “Peter before the
rooster crows in the morning, you will deny me three times.”Well, embedded in this story is a strange
instruction from Jesus to his disciples.Let me read it to you straight from the Bible.

Luke 22:35-36 – Then Jesus asked
them, “When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money,
a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?”“No,” they replied.“But now,” he said, “take your money and a
traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one!”

The
implication here is that in the past the disciples were able to move about the
country safely due to the goodwill of the people.But Jesus is about to be arrested and
executed and his followers are going to be in danger everywhere they go.Even traveling will be treacherous.The disciples will need a sword for
self-defense.Since we know Jesus is not
encouraging military aggression—his plan is to allow the religious leaders
to arrest and crucify him—Jesus must be telling his disciples to purchase swords
for self-defense.What!?!That doesn’t seem like the peaceful, pacifist
Jesus I was taught about as a kid!

In
fact, the passage from Luke 6:27-36 where Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek” is
not about nonviolence at all.It is about
receiving personal insult.Slapping
someone in the face was considered a great insult to Jews of Jesus day.So Jesus is not talking about a grave, life
threatening danger when he said “turn the other cheek”.Jesus is saying, set your ego aside—even if
you are in the right.Love your
enemies.Bless those who curse you.If someone insults you and slaps you in the
face, love them the way God loved you when you were His enemy.Show extravagant love by going the extra mile
and turning the other cheek.

Resisting Evil

There is no doubt that Jesus’
nonviolent approach has brought about remarkable change in situations where
change seemed completely impossible.However, to teach that Jesus advocated pacifism in every situation is just
not accurate.To passively allow someone
to break into your house and harm you or your family because “Jesus said so,”
is a total misunderstanding of what Jesus said and did.Theologians J. P. Moreland and Norman Geisler
say that "to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally
wrong. To allow a rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an
act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable.
In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission
can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect
his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally."[iii]

I do not believe Jesus wants us to
sacrifice our health or safety to someone who threatens us.Nor do I believe Jesus would ask a nation to
refuse to fight to defend the safety of its citizens.You
have the God-given right to defend yourself and I encourage everyone to learn
how.And thankfully, we live in a
country where the constitution guarantees our right to keep and bear arms so
we have an extra tool available to
defend ourselves (God help us) if we ever need to.

What I have learned in my life—what
I have taught many people—is fighting should be the very last resort.Sometimes however—and very rarely—fighting is
the only solution.Physical violence is
a very short term solution.It usually
leads to more problems than it solves.However, sometimes it is the only course to take.And if you find yourself in a situation where
you must fight for your life or limb, then fight with all your might and know
that God is on your side.

At the same time, there are
occasions when the best course of action is nonviolence.Sometimes, God calls us—like He called
Jesus—to endure suffering for His glory.Such times when we choose to refrain from fighting are not a sign of
weakness at all.Rather, they require
great courage and resolve to suffer harm for a purpose greater than our own
personal safety.I pray that you will
have such a close relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit that should
you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to refrain from fighting
and suffer abuse for the sake of Christ, you will clearly know it and have the
strength and courage to be faithful.

Conclusion

In
closing, I would like to point out how great was the love of Christ that caused
him to willingly lay down his life for us on the cross.The sacrifice was made greater by the fact
that Jesus could have saved himself.You see, no one could take Jesus' life from him unless he willingly
surrendered it.Jesus could have called
down an army of 10,000 angels to come save him and destroy the world because it
offended him.This was totally within
his power to do and he would have been completely justified to do it.Yet, Jesus’ great love for you and me—though
we absolutely didn’t deserve it—and his wisdom to know what was needed to save
our souls and change our world forever compelled Jesus to suffer abuse, be
nailed to the cross, and remain there until he died.His act would have been amazing enough had he
been unable to prevent it.Yet it is even
more extraordinary precisely because Jesus could have avoided it and chose
not to for your sake.

How
would you respond to such an amazing love as this?Close your eyes and reflect on the love of
Christ for a moment.You see, Jesus was
nailed to the cross, but it wasn’t the nails that held him there.It was his love for you that kept him on the cross until he died to pay the price for
your mistakes and wrongdoings.Do you
understand that?Now what are you going
to do about it?

I
would suggest that you decide this day, to commit your life to him, to love him
the way he loves you, and to love the people of this world—good and bad—because
Jesus loves them too.

Hi! I am a husband to an amazing woman, a father of three awesome kids, and a pastor of a loving church. My goal in life is to glorify God as I draw people closer to Christ with every breath and step I take.

About Me

Hi! I am a husband to an amazing woman, a father of three awesome kids, and a pastor of a loving church. My goal in life is to glorify God as I draw people closer to Christ with every breath and step I take.